Such a method can find an application in a network of mobile terminals of the type where a terminal gains access to the said network via a shared so-called random access channel. Generally, in this type of network, each terminal gains access to the network without any access control mechanism, for example according to the availability of the common resource with high risks of interference and disturbance with the surrounding terminals. In this context, the present method can find an application for restricting the level of interference generated by the terminals attempting to gain access to the common resource.
More precisely, in the context of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), the method of the present invention will find an application for mobiles to have access to the shared random access channel RACH (Random Access CHannel) or the uplink shared channel USCH (Uplink Shared CHannel).
Methods of access to a common resource, consisting for example of a shared channel, are already known. For example, according to a first embodiment, a terminal which is to gain access to this resource makes a request which is then processed by the network. The latter manages the resource, knowing all the requests made by the different terminals sharing it. According to the number of these requests, the network grants or rejects the application.
The drawback of this method is the load which is generated on the uplink between the terminals and the network by the requests from the terminal.
Another method consists of the fact that the network manages the common resource by supplying common parameters to the terminals. These parameters enable it to have statistical control of the shared resource. The common parameters are for example an access probability which represents the probability of the terminal having access successfully to the common resource, a time which the terminal must wait between two access attempts, or an access period.
The drawback of this method lies in the fact that the terminals are all on an equal footing so that the network does not at all take account of their actual requirements.